The Super Smash Bros. universe has been Nintendo’s golden goose featuring beloved frnachises and partners. The series was the first attempt at making a Nintendo multiverse game. Super Smash Bros Brawl gave us an amazing fully cinematic campaign with the Subspace Emissary. The concept was swapped with a board game RPG in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
A Fan’s Desire
A Super Smash Bros RPG has not been confirmed to be in the works. Nor are there any verifiable rumors of the idea of one being floated around by the creative heads at Nintendo. However, this isn’t to say that the community hasn’t been entertaining the thought. A group of Reddit users have already been discussing this topic, and there are fan-made games and talks about an RPG featuring all Nintendo Characters.
Fans want to see the series thrive in new dynamic ways that could expand upon a sequel to the Subspace Emissary. Over two decades, the internet has spawned thousands of fanfiction with writers dedicated to exploring the Smash Bros Universe. The demand to see the Nintendo Multiverse return is quite high. But what would an RPG-style Smash Bros look like and play like?
Gameplay Concept
For starters, it would be an open-world game where you explore various worlds and planets that are all respective to the characters of different Nintendo franchises. The player chooses a starting character, meet other characters to recruit or battle and train them in ways to maximize skills and abilities. The player embarks on missions that follow a mainline story with eye-catching side quests that rewards the player with currency, XP, and gear.
The concept may seem nice on paper till realize the massive worldbuilding and character roster. And if we know anything about Nintendo and Mr. Sakurai, game development requires quality. The game must also be prepared for a wide range of players. Let’s explore core elements needed for a Smash Bros RPG.
The Flow of Battle
First, ask yourself: Would you rather have a Super Smash Bros RPG, or an RPG that takes place within the Super Smash Bros universe? It begins with combat. There are various ways of encountering a battle in an RPG. Maybe there’s a brief cut-scene and then the screen transitions into a combat phase. Bumping or attacking enemies while traversing the world.
Whichever you prefer, you can imagine how the choice would affect every other mechanic of the game from the loot you find, to improving skill trees, to working with a party you are traveling with. If you want to see what this would be like with traditional RPG turn-based combat, you should check out the fan-made Super Smash Bros RPG by Cherrim. This developer has videos of gameplay that might pique your interest along with an interesting story pitch spotlighting the characters, Wario and Waluigi.
Gear And Items
Items would be interesting to consider after you’ve settled on what your preference would be for the type of combat. We all know that casual Smash players, at the very least, use items around the battlefield to grant them a wide range of advantages and disadvantages. In the RPG setting, developers would have to consider whether that mechanic would remain a feature or if they would change it. For instance, would there be armor and weapons that you find as loot or buy from shops?
Perhaps some of these items could be summoned during fights, but can other items be kept and stored after finding them during the fight? Would there be durability to the items that require you to fix them with materials or at a shop? In any case, it would probably be safe to assume that there would be armor, potions, and other gear that would grant passives or status effects outside of and during combat. And maybe the weapons you find could be stored but they would have limited uses with no option to repair seriously overpowered weapons.
Special Character Skillset
Skills and abilities are a core component in an RPG. Each character would have skill trees or a toolbox of unlockable upgrades that can be used as a bank to withdraw skills and abilities that match the characters you switch to throughout the story. On the other hand, the combat and gameplay could be like “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3.” In this case, each character would have 4 abilities along with a variety of light, heavy, and air attacks.
This formula would be ideal for Smash Bros characters, given that they all traditionally have four special attacks. No matter what the case, another question remains. Would each character also have abilities they could use outside of combat while exploring the open world? Which character abilities would be used to remove obstacles, traverse dangerous terrain, interact with NPCs, locate hidden paths and objects, or reach high places?
Exploration mechanics are important for any RPG. Maybe, Donkey Kong can remove giant boulders that are blocking the path, Yoshi can walk across spiked pits, Peach can charm hostile NPCs, Duck Hunt could sniff out a hidden item, Pikachu or Olimar could squeeze through a tiny hole, and Link or Samus could grapple their way to a high place while others super-jump or fly there. There would be many possible combos to overcome all sorts of obstacles. To see what items and abilities would look like in a Smash Bros RPG, check out “Super Smash Bros RPG: War for the World” by Fantendo. You’ll find a list of items, skills, and abilities that cover almost everything mentioned here.
A Friendly Yet Troublesome Party
It’s worth mentioning again that the story would either be a continuation of Subspace Emissary or start over from scratch with a new plot and narrative. Maybe the Nintendo villains would band together to hatch a sinister plot to take revenge against the heroes who foiled their plans before, or a new looming threat would emerge that would have good guys and bad guys come together to stop it once again. It would probably be safe to say that fans wouldn’t be picky about the plot introduces elements that keep the players interested in the narrative. This is where the questions of character interactions and dialogue come into play.
If players are to care about the story, then the characters need to have interactions with each other that are meaningful and intriguing. They need a good blend of humor, tension, and drama. What’s happening outside of the fighting and exploring? What unique interactions would gamers like to see among their favorite Nintendo characters, and should it be voice-acted? Would Mario have a voiced conversation with Link for the first official time ever in human history, or would those characters remain mute while other characters like Marth, StarFox, and Zelda take a lead role and do all the talking?
Subspace Emissary wasn’t bad, but for an RPG Smash Bros game there would at least have to be plain text boxes with the occasional “hmm”s and “ahh!”s for sounds. Nevertheless, character interactions would be neat to see, and it would be even more wild to have the option to create a character that could interact with everyone else. Just imagine those branching paths one could make while siding with either Peach or Zelda at the beginning of the game this time around.
Keep the Conversation Going
Overall, it’s been 5 Smash Bros games later and almost 20 years, but we have yet to see Nintendo make a multiverse for their characters where they embark on an RPG adventure together. This idea is nothing new and some fans have been pushing for it for years. Nintendo hasn’t given us any lead as to when or even if this will happen, but one thing is certain, we’re all ready and they can take our money when it happens.
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